The present exemplary embodiments relate generally to lighting. They find particular application in conjunction with low profile lamps, and will be described with particular reference thereto. However, it is to be appreciated that the present exemplary embodiments are also amenable to other like applications.
A lamp generally includes one or more light sources which may degrade over time and/or with temperature. However, lamps often lack the ability to compensate for and/or provide notice of such degradation. As a result, a lamp may not operate according to specification and/or provide an operator of the lamp with sufficient notice to replace the lamp before failure.
Further, a lamp generally includes a light emitting face through which light from the one or more light sources is emitted. Typically, it is preferable that light be uniformly emitted from the light emitting face. However, a light emitting face of a lamp is often larger than the light source. As such, uniform distribution of light emitted from the light source can be difficult to achieve.
One option includes the use of a catadioptric optical system. A catadioptric optical system uses refraction and reflection, usually via lenses (dioptrics) and curved mirrors (catoptrics), to focus light. However, one problem with using a catadioptric optical system is that catadioptric optical systems are generally fairly thick. Therefore, in instances where a low profile lamp is required, it is often difficult to make use of a catadioptric optical system.
Another option involves using a matrix of light sources spread along the light emitting face of a lamp. Such an option does not rely on an optical system to distribute light from a light source across a light emitting face of a lamp. Rather, it relies on sheer quantity of light sources. However, one problem with using a matrix is that increasing the quantity of light sources adds unnecessary expense, inefficiency, and complexity to a lamp.
The present disclosure contemplates new and improved systems and/or methods for remedying this and other problems.